The Tuskegee Airmen

P-51’s of the famed Tuskegee Fighting Red Tails wind down at their airbase in Italy after a gruelling long range Bomber escort mission over occupied territory.

Signatures:

Limited Edition & Artist's Proof

• Lieutenant Colonel LEO R. GRAY – graduating in one of the final classes from Tuskegee Air Field he joined the 100th FS, arriving in Italy on March 14, 1945, quickly having a close encounter with two Me-262s while escorting home a damaged P-38. Flying on long range escort missions in P-51's, he also flew P-40s and P-47s in combat.
• Lieutenant Colonel GEORGE E. HARDY – after graduating from Tuskegee Army Air Field he joined the 99th FS, 332nd FG at Ramitelli, Italy in 1945, and flew 21 combat missions in the P-51 Mustang on bomber escort duty and fighter sweeps. During Korea he flew 45 combat missions in B-29s, and during the Vietnam War flew 70 combat missions in AC-119K gunships.
• Second Lieutenant LOWELL STEWARD – entering the Tuskegee flight school in July 1942, he was posted to Europe to join the 100th FS, 332nd FG flying P-51s. During his service Lowell flew 143 combat missions with the 100th Fighter Squadron on Bomber Escort and low level strafing missions remaining in the service until July 1946.
• Lieutenant Colonel WILLIAM H. HOLLOMAN – from September 1944 he flew P-51s in Italy with the 99th FS, 332nd FG and after the war flew P-47 Thunderbolts with the 301st FS. During the Korean War he served as a MATS pilot evacuating wounded soldiers and during this time became the first black helicopter pilot in the US Air Force. After becoming an airline pilot he was recalled to active duty in 1966, serving in Vietnam and Europe, and amassed nearly 17,000 flying hours.
• Lieutenant Colonel ALEXANDER JEFFERSON – he flew P-51's with the 332nd FG at Ramitelli, Italy, on long range escort missions for B-17 and B-24 bombers. On August 12, 1944, three days prior to the invasion of Southern France, he was shot down by ground fire while strafing coastal radar installations, spending the rest of the war as a POW, and was liberated by General Patton’s 3rd Army. On his return to the USA he became an instructor at Tuskegee Field.
  
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• Colonel CHARLES McGEE – he shipped out to Italy in December 1943 to join the 302nd FS, 332nd FG and flew missions in North Africa, Italy and Germany, scoring his first victory on 24 August on the Ploesti raid, notching up two more by the end of WWII. After the war he commanded fighter squadrons throughout the United States, Italy, the Philippines and Germany, logging up more than 6,100 hours in 409 combat missions spanning World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Serving in the armed forces for 30 years he holds the record of flying more combat missions than any other USAF pilot in history.
• Lieutenant Colonel WILLIAM WHEELER – volunteering for the Army Air Corps he qualified from Tuskegee Air Field in 1943 and joined the the 302nd Fighter Squadron, 332nd FG in Italy. Flying numerous Bomber Escort and low level strafing missions, he is credited with destroying three enemy bombers on the ground.
• Lieutenant Colonel CHARLES LANE – joining the Cadet Corps at Tuskegee in 1943 he joined the 99th Fighter Squadron in Italy in 1944 after qualiying. Flying P-­47s and then P­51-s he completed 26 combat missions in WWII and went on the serve a total of 27 years in the US Air Force flying fighters and B-52 Bombers.
• Staff Sergeant JAMES SHEPPARD – enlisting in theAir Forcein October 1942 he was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group as an Aviation Maintenance Technician moving with the unit to Italy in 1943. He serving with the 100th FS and later with the 301st FS in Europe as a mechanic and as a highly respected Crew Chief.
• Lieutenant Colonel HOWARD BAUGH – joining the 99th Fighter Squadron in Sicily in 1943 and flew P-40s and P-51s escorting B-17 and B-24 formations and low level strafing attacks on artillery batteries, truck convoys and radar installations. Flying a total of 135 operational sorties he shared in the destruction of an Fw190.